Perry Freshwater try helps Perpignan beat Toulon in Heineken Cup

Sunday 10 April 2011 19.06 EDT
First published on Sunday 10 April 2011 19.06 EDT

Barcelona will always mean football, but for eight hours on Saturday Messi, Alves, Iniesta and co surrendered the city to thousands of Catalans intent on enjoying a rugby experiment which is certain to be repeated if Perpignan get another chance to take a major Heineken Cup game to their spiritual capital.

Before kick‑off, when the streets around the Olympic Stadium were clogged by red and yellow, and for two hours afterwards when convoys of cars honked and hooted, deafening the city centre in celebration of victory, there was plenty of serious partying. Around 32,000 motored south, across the French border, leaving Perpignan almost empty, to join 15,000 highly partisan and vocal locals in celebration of a long‑held desire to unite the Catalan nation in a new sport.

That a total of 55,000 people paid to watch a rugby match in Spain was enough of a success story even before the dejected Toulon coach, Philippe Saint-André, admitted that the Catalan support had probably been worth 12 points to Perpignan on a day when they secured a first semi‑final appearance in eight years.

The argument was settled long before Toulon scored a last-minute try and the biggest roar of the afternoon went not to Jonny Wilkinson but to another England player, Perry Freshwater, who barrelled his way over from five yards to take Perpignan into a 26-18 lead that was insurmountable for a Toulon team who were poor after the first quarter of the game.

The 37-year-old prop, who has a damaged shoulder which nearly made him miss the game, came on to score the only try he can remember scoring in eight years at Perpignan and in a playing career which includes 10 England caps.

"I just push, I don't score," said Freshwater, before going on to outline the importance of this game. "Ever since I've been at the club, the idea of getting a game in Barcelona has been the whole goal.

"Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona ... and it was a fantastic occasion, but it wouldn't have been if we had lost and we could have. There was a lot of pressure coming here. We were terrible in that first half. In the changing room at half-time the coach said we couldn't get any worse."

Perpignan survived two yellow cards in the first half – Wilkinson's Toulon team could fashion just one try in those 20 minutes against 14 men and turned around only five points to the good. After Jacques Brunel's half-time talk, Perpignan were another team and Barcelona celebrated until it was time to refocus on events at the Camp Nou.